




t^.^^^^n^^ ^^K 



AN ORATION 



DKLIVKRKD ON TUE 



THE SEVENTY-SIXTH ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICAN 
INDEPENDENCE, 






JULY 5th, 1852. 



BEFORE THE CITIZENS OF BUFFALO, 



g\ 

?! 
<^' 1 

^1 



JAMJ2S SHELDON. 




BUFFALO: 

STKAM' I'KES'S OF JKWETT, THOMAS A CO 



1852. 




AN 



ORATION 



DELIVERED 



BEFORE THE CITIZENS OF BUFFALO, 



jqil) B% \SB% 



JAMES SHELDON. 



Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable. — WEBSTsra. 



BtTFPALO: 
STEAM PRESS, JEWETT. THOMAS & CO. 

1852. 






Git 



n.$taJU.<m^ru 



12Mr'06 



corresfondence; 



Buffalo, July 7, 1852. 
JAMES SHELDON, Esq.: 

Dear Sir: At a meeting of the Committee of Arrangements for the 
Fourth of July Celebration, held last evening, it was resolved unanimously, 
to exteod our thanks to you, for the able and dignified oration delivered on 
the occasion of our National Anniversary, by you — embodying principles, 
liberal, and compatible with the spirit of our national code. 

And we respectfully request you to favor us with a copy of the oration^ 
for publication, 

Veiy respectfully, we remain, 

G. A. SGROGGS, 
WM. CAR LAND,. 
JAMES SMITH, 
OTIS VAUGHN, 
JOHN B. COLLINS, 
P. DORSHEIMER. 



BtJFFALO, Jul^ 10, 1852, 

GENTLE'srEN : — t have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your 
letter of the 7th instant, requesting a copy of the oration delivered by me on 
the late Anniversary of our N-ational Independence, for publication. Allow 
me to convey to you my thanks for the sentiments you are pleased to express 
concerning an humble effort, prepared amid other duties and avocations. And 
in placing the manuscript at your disposal, I accompany it with a fervent 
hope that American republicanism may never fail in having abler advocates 
and that the spirit of our institutions, in the broadest and most catholic 
sense, may ever be appreciated by our citizens. 

I am^ gentlemen, your humbfe servant, 

JAS. SHELDON.. 
Messrs. G. A. Scuoggs, 

Wm. Garland, 

James Smith, 

And others, CcBamilDee, <fec. 



ORATION. 



Citizens : 

Again, has the birthday of our Uberty dawned upon us. 
Again, we are permitted to behold the glad return of the Sab- 
bath day of freedom. A joyful hymn of praise and thanks- 
giving arises from every vale in our extended land. The 
anthem is swelling from a million tongues ; a million hearts 
beat proudly as its echoing tones proclaim the Jubilee of our 
Independence. We come up to the nation's high and holy 
festival with the songs of exultation, our bosoms thrill with the 
influences of the consecrated day, our souls are animated by 
the inspiring spirit that is borne along on every rising breeze, 
and we congregate beneath the eternal dome of heaven, around 
the altars of our freedom, and amid the institutions of our 
love, to light anew in our hearts the sacred flame, that the 
watch-fires of liberty may never cease to burn. Our oblations 
are not offered to decorate a monarch's shrine, we render no 
homage to the majesty of kings ; but we commemorate that 
day when the rights of man were declared before the world, 
when rational liberty was proclaimed upon a regenerated earth, 
and tyranny trembled on its thrones. 

How grateful our remembrances ! how heartfelt our congrat- 
ulations I^diow earnest and confident our hopes ! how pure the 
sources of our pride, and the fountains of our patriotic triumph ! 

Let us not be forgetful of our forefathers — and their deeds 
of greatness, that iUustrate and ennoble human nature j let us 



6 

think of the virtues and wisdom of those men of old, w"ho 
were sage in council, and powerful in battle — who trusted in 
the mighty hand and tlie stretched out arm of the Lord of 
Hosts. Let us call to mind the days of the struggle for our 
independence, and the events that adorn the page of history 
with bright and unfading lustre. Let us speak of that v/on- 
derful political change — that new organization and develop- 
ment of human society that attracted the attention of all 
mankind, and laid the foundation of a new order of things, 
and caused new principles of government to be recognized by 
the powers of earth. Behold the phj^sical and moral effects 
of that revolution ! See mankind awakening to a just appre- 
ciation of their rights and dignity, and trace the operations of 
the spirit that was then breathed into life and activity, so full 
of consequences, so glorious in results to all the world ! Cit- 
izens : let us think of all these things with grateful hearts, 
with emotions of pride, and cheerful hopes for the duration 
and prosperity of the Republic. 

Seventy-six years ago, our fathers were assembled in solemn 
council, to deliberate upon the fate and fortune of their country. 
It was no common occasion, such as occurs in the ordinary 
history of nations, that had called together the representatives 
of three millions of people, to think, to decide, to act for the 
present and the future of their land. They knew bow mo- 
mentous were the interests involved in the determination of 
that day, and how important and almost decisive the influence 
of their actions upon the destiny of all that was dear to them 
of principle and human rights. No spirit of wild enthusiasm 
inflamed their souls, no visionary dreams distorted the 
imagination ; they were calm in spirit, and collected in reason, 
and moved only by the silent, inward force and majesty of 
judgment, and the mighty will. 

The weak and humble Colonies had always been bound in 



an alliance unnatural to tlie dignity of man, neither respected 
as friends or protected as allies ; their petitions answered only 
by neglectful silence ; tlieir prerogatives disregarded, and actual 
burdens of oppression imposed ; and now they were still com- 
manded to yield tribute and allegiance, and submit to the 
requirements of the monarch of the British throne, whose 
fleets and armies were thundering upon their defenceless 
shores. The first blood of the Revolution had been spilled 
at Bunker Hill, and stained the fields of Concord and 
Lexington. War — 'actual war — existed between the Colo- 
nies and England, and it was idle to talk of peace, without 
abject submission. The eyes of the world were upon them. 
The old governments were hoping that the outbreak of the 
spirit of liberty was but a transient ebullition — that it would 
be crushed by the strong arm of power ; but good men, in 
every land, breathed an earnest invocation that the struggle 
would be crowned by glorious success. 

What a solemn responsibility in that hour was their's, as they 
were then gathered — the leaders, the great and wise men of 
the nation ! How eloquent the unspoken language of their 
hearts, how firm and fearless in spirit, how animated in soul 
by noble and patriotic purposes ! Had they hesitated, had 
they trembled, lest they were rashly overstepping the bounds 
of ordinary prudence, had they been overcome by fear of 
the mighty power of England, it had been the darkest day in 
the Avorld's history. Should they boldly proclaim their rights 
as men, and avow the causes that impelled them to such hon- 
orable action, they would, perhaps, ensure the accomplishment 
of the greatest political revolution of modern times. They 
shrunk not from that responsibility ; and asserting their liberties 
before the w^orld, declared the independence of their coun- 
try, and, pledging their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred 
honor to support that declaration, defied the hosts of the 



invader. Americans hailed the tidings of that event with the 
joyful enthusiasm of earnest and devoted souls, and celebrated 
it with bonfires and illuminations, and the fervent thanksgiv- 
ing of their hearts ; and the light that was here kindled 
radiated from our shores, and illuminated Europe. Bold and 
brave men from foreign lands came hither to aid us in our 
weakness, and peril their lives for our independence. La Fay- 
ette, and Steuben, and Pulaski, and others, whose memories 
will never fade, came from their native lands and gathered 
undying laurels on the battle fields, in the crusade for freedom. 
Heart to heart, and hand to hand, our forefathers went out to 
the contest ; and then came the long struggle, the dark days, 
the patient sufferings, the glorious victories, and the final success- 
ful termination of the Revolution. The Colonies had gained 
thek liberties, the Federal Constitution was estabhshed, and a 
government founded by our heroes and sages, under the fostering 
care of Heaven, that has become the pride and hope of the world. 
Well is it, Americans, that we congregate this day to dwell 
amid such recollections, and rejoice that the sun is yet beaming 
upon these glorious results of the labors of our forefathers, 
these enduring institutions that expand and grow brighter and 
firmer in all the circling years. Ye gather from your peaceful 
homes, from the marts of trafhc, and the scenes of toil, to 
exchange the salutations of your hearts. Ye bear aloft the 
bannec^of your civic associations ; ye are arrayed in the sym- 
bols of your craft, the decorations and devices of your orders, 
and the insignia of fraternal brotherhood. The venerable 
forms of aged men are here ; they feel anew the enthusiasm 
of the times of old. The young men are here, and the life- 
blood is purely bounding through their veins, as they catch the 
inspiration of the hour. The matron and the blooming maiden 
are here ; they will ever be the last and the most fervent 
worshipers in the temples of rehgion and Uberty. Y^e assemble 



in the spirit of love and friendship, animated by the same 
influences, cherishing the same hopes, all equally Ameri- 
cans, all equally enjoying the henign effects of conslitutional 
freedom; and may those who shall come after us, in the 
unnumbered centuries of time, who shall stand where we now 
stand, and worship where we now worship, may they never be 
forgetful, may their hearts never be hardened, may they ever 
gratefully feel the gentle influences borne from the silent 
spirit-land of the mighty past. 

At the conclusion of the American Revolution, the thirteen 
united Colonies, to be sure, were independent of the world, and 
they soon established our federal government and existing 
constitution, yet they were weak and feeble in the elements 
of physical power. The long and unequal contest had drained 
the pubhc treasury and impoverished the whole country by 
ruining trade and commerce, and there was no stability or sense 
of security attending those ordinary transactions of life which 
open great avenues to wealth and power, and develope the 
resources and capacities of a nation. The government itself 
was but an experiment, and fear and doubt attended every 
movement, and at times almost obstructed its practical opera- 
tion. But there were bright hopes in the hearts of strong 
men, and a buoyant spirit of confidence which gradually rose 
above the depression incident to a new and untried order of 
things ; and silently though slowly the current of public and 
private affairs became tranquil and began to flow in legitimate 
and well defined channels. American enterprise opened new 
avenues for trade and new fields for exertion, while the citizens 
found their rights "protected and their interests fostered by the 
benign operations of government. 

The world soon discovered the beneficial change that was 
here taking place, sensibly feeling the influence of our free insti- 
tutions and directed its attention to our land, and thousands 



10 

of those who sought for freedom and a home where right 
was loved and wrong rebuked, came to our shores to find a 
welcome and a sanctuary. The march of improvement was 
onward and irresistible ; the primeval forests were opened by 
the hardy pioneers; our commerce began to expand and visit 
every sea ; science and the arts soon found their votaries, and 
the humanities of life enlightened and informed the intellect 
and heart, and men moved vigorously and confidently onward 
in the march to wealth and power and prosperity. We have 
but to look around us to behold and realize the extent of our 
physical improvement. Where but lately the unpruned forests 
in native beauty grew, we see the flourishing homes of industry 
and happiness, and in place of the rude habitation of the Indian, 
our lofty cities stand along the vales, fitting their domes to 
heaven. The white man has been through the length and 
breadth of the land, and all has changed before his improving 
care, save Nature, where she dwells in her fastnesses. The 
same blue lake is near us at our feet, and the eternal cataract 
still thunders on our borders ; but the wild wood has become a 
paradise, and the very home of the red man is the centre of the 
commerce of the west. 

But it is not in our physical condition alone that this change 
is manifest, nor in that alone can we see the wonderful improve- 
ment our country has made in power and happiness and dignity. 
A moral, and social, and intellectual advancement has taken 
place that has no parallel in history. Freedom in religion and 
in doctrine was coeval in its establishment with that of our 
civil liberty, from which the most beneficial results have flowed, 
for there has been no strong arm of power to bind the con- 
science of man, or fetter the soul in its aspirations. The claims 
of morality have been eminently recognized, and a just appre- 
ciation of whatever is good and virtuous and sacred in the 
offices of life, pervades the whole community, while the holy 



11 

men oF truth are among us, who go forth to labor in the vme- 
yard and preach the inspiring hopes and promises of the Chris- 
tian dispensation, nntrauimeled by temporal power. The rights 
of men as social beings in their connection with each other, of 
life and liberty and property and the peaceable enjoyment of 
all these rights, and the majesty of the law, that strong and 
subtle link in the chain of constituted government, are consid- 
ered and upheld in opposition to the dictates of passion and 
arbitrary powder. Around us are the institutions of learning; 
not only those within whose walls we gather to acquire the 
garnered knowledge of al] time, and develope the utmost capaci- 
ties of intellect, but those prouder monuments, those cherished 
sources of uniTersal education, the free schools, that rear their 
humble fronts in every hamlet of the nation. All these, and 
other evidences of that advancement, these sources of aggran- 
dizement and national character, these elements of our integrity 
and lasting duration, stand firm before the world, and secure 
amid all modern, innovation, ^vill multiply our blessings and 
elevate our republic to the loftiest pinnacle of earthly glory. 

How wonderful the chancre ! hoAv unlocked for bv the wise 
men of the revolution! how extended and beneficial in its 
influence upon the whole civilized society of earth ! how grat- 
ifying to every friend of civil and religious liberty ! hoAv full 
of disappointment and vexation to the tyrants of the old world, 
who thought to crush the offspring of freedom while 3'et in the 
weakness of infancy ! It is the world's great change, sr.ch as 
the swaying to and fro of empires never before accomplished. 
The time had come when a revolution in the existing elements 
of social order and political government was required to prevent 
the degeneracy of mankind, and the extinguishment of the 
desire for equality and the love for liberty, w^bich burns in 
every human breast. This was the chosen theatre of the 
struggle ; this, the scene of action and of triumph. There is a 



12 

time for all things. There was a time when Europe borrowed 
her arts, her literature, her refinements, her civiHzation from 
Asia. Asia, and her glory and grandeur have passed away; 
and Europe will not forever be enabled to wield the trident of 
the seas, or sway the sceptre of intellectual superiority. The 
unshackled genius of the New World is now exerting itself 
with gigantic vigor, aided by the infinite treasures of nature, to 
strengthen its powers and develope its unequaled resources. 
Power, dominion, science, literature, and the arts, hitherto the 
satellites of despotism, are becoming the bright and beautiful 
handmaids of a brighter goddess than themselves, and the scep- 
tre will depart from the East and be wielded by the West. 
Here shall be gathered and centred all the enduring elements 
and attributes of moral and physical grandeur; and, as our 
republic moves on amid the march of nations, onward, onward, 

" We may take our station, 
Borne on the wings of Fame o'er sea and land. 
And sliow our glories in the dazzling sun, 
Proclaiming as we go — these, these are the spoils 
The Greeks have taken from the towers of Troy, 
And hung them in the temples of their Gods, 
A blazonry for ages yet to come." * 

Such anticipations for our republic, are as rational as glorious 
to Americans. The New World is disenthralled; acknowledging 
no superior but Heaven, and trusting to that superior for pros- 
perity; and the old governments feel the throb and pulse of 
liberty beating in every human heart. It arises from the ashes 
of tyranny and the dust of crumbling thrones, and standing 
the chiefest among the chief, and leading the way in the bright 
path of freedom, already has become the beacon, the example, 
the patriarch of the struggling nations of the earth. 

The genius and spirit of American liberty and American 
republicanism, unhke those of the old republics, extend their 

• Herald, in the Agamemnon of J^schylus. 



13 

grateful and pervading influence over the whole earth. They 
were singularly jealous of their franchises, and unwilhng to 
extend their privileges to the world, and when they passed the 
circumscribed boundaries of their own territorievS, they regarded 
all others as dependents or allies, whose resources might law- 
fully be applied to their own aggrandizement, and who could 
attain to no station higher than that of conquered tributaries. 
Beyond their own towers, they permitted no extension of the 
area of freedom, but restrained and curbed every effort and 
crushed every exertion of those who asserted equality of right, 
or dared to aspire to independence. 

How different with us ; how far are we exalted above sucli 
selfish and illiberal policy ! Not only have we erected here 
an altar of liberty upon which we place the votive offerings of 
our hearts, but we invite all mankind to come and join us in 
our sacrifices. We know no distinction among the worship- 
ers of freedom in our land : they are all equally freemen, all 
citizens, all Americans. More than this, we gird ourselves 
about with the armor of truth and right, and go forth beyond 
our own country to crusade for tlie emancipation of mankind. 
We would that not only here, but everywhere r.pon earth, the 
spirit of liberty might be present, to animate, and inform, and 
illuminate the world, with the tranquil beams reflected from 
our shores j and that the sun, in its daily journey through the 
arch of heaven, might never cease to shine upon the monu- 
ments of freedom. In every quarter of the globe — whether 
amid the burning sands of Africa, or upon the fertile plains of 
Europe; whether on the mountain side or in the glen, or 
where the green islands gem the ocean foam ; wherever 
humanity pines in chains, or suffering, or oppression, we 
carry our sympathies and our tears, offering the balm of our 
consolation to heal the wounds and soothe the miseries of the 
afflicted. We tell them of our institutions and our laws, of 



u 

peace and happiness and abundance in our young and vigorous^ 
land, of the asylum and sacred home we offer to all mankind ; 
and we address them, we call ujjon them in the language of 
affection : Come, ye men of every clime and every nation ;. 
came, in your misery or in your affluence, and fear not to take 
thought of your future in our land, for it will he well with you. 
Come with the symbols of your religion and your household 
gods, for they will be respected. Come to our hearts if you 
will, and gather with us around our shrines, or worship in 
our open temples. Come to our joyful homes, whose hearth- 
stones never echo the waihngs wrung cut by penury or oppres- 
sion. Come, garner with us the harvest of plenty, and enjoy 
the full banquet of peace. Come from every mount and vale 
and stream where liberty hath no home, and trusting your for- 
tunes upon lie wave of ocean, flee unto this broad land of 
freedom, even as the young bird unto its native hill. Ye are 
welcome to enjoy ^\ith us our privileges, our blessings, our 
immunities. With eager hands we press to greet you ; we 
salute you with the voices of welcome, as* ye touch upon our 
fraternal shores. Are ye exiles, or wanderers, or broken- 
hearted ? — ^this, then, is the holy land of refuge ; this the land 
of tearful benedictions. In the name of down-trodden and 
suffering humanity, we bid you earnest welcome ; come, build 
with us this lofty fabric of our state, and be ye pillars of in- 
tegrity to support the grandeur of the Commonwealth, 

Thus do our words go out into all lands, and unto the end» 
of the world ; and we rejoice that all the nations are attentive, 
anl that they come in mighty caravans of pilgrims from all 
climes, to dwell within the chosen sanctuary of freedom. 

The present century bears Avitness to an essential ameliora- 
tion of all that constitutes human society. We cannot speak 
broader than this, e\en though we would; and it is super- 
fluous to define, when on every side the monuments and 



15 

evidences of this assertion testify to its truth. The spirit of the 
age is eminently progressive. It has induced a wonderful 
improvement in the social condition of the world, by the assim- 
ilation of nations, throuc,h the influence of reciprocal interests 
and mutual dependence, which awaken and cherish feehngs of 
friendship and general amity, and tend to make governments 
what they were designed to be, the instruments of conferring 
blessings upon mankind. The dominion of error and force is 
fading before the illumination of the mind that is witnessed in 
the later days ; and in all enlightened countries, men, no 
longer bound in soul, or body, or in thought, boldly launch 
forth W'ith free and unfettered powers to torture invention and 
exhaust genius, to convert the material things around us into 
blessings. 

Science and art seem almost living agents to make us hap- 
pier, wiser, and better ; they lend their magic powers to tri- 
umph over the obstacles of nature, and bring forth discovery 
upon discovery, until we are almost dazzled by the rapidity 
with which one improvement succeeds another. Beyond all 
these, w^e bear witness to human development as regards the 
virtues of the heart, the moral improvement, and deep relig- 
ious feeling, which constitute a glorious triumph in the war of 
good against evil, which man has waged since creation's day. 

It is all substantial, cheering advancement and progress in 
things physical, and social, and political ; and it is all for our 
good — essentially for human good — and raises us to the 
proud eminence upon which we stand in our day and genera- 
tion. We are improving; and what the end of this improve- 
ment will be, we know not ; but let us wish and hope that it 
may be for good, and that the future will justify the good- 
ness of the Creator in endowing us with the spark of intel- 
liofence. 

Ye men of the living present ! ye happy generation who 



16 

behold this day, the sun in heaven, and look onward to the 
dazzling future, pause ye amid your exultation, to dwell in 
memory with the men of the silent past ! This day, so wel- 
come in its returning brightness, so full of holy hopes and 
ennobling aspirations, let us awaken in our minds a grateful 
remembrance of the strong, and wise, and good men, who 
were the founders of our happiness ; who planted, that not only 
we, but all posterity, through the undisting-uished lapse of 
time, might reap ; who, leaving to us the precious legacy of 
freedom, now repose among the honored dead. They were 
sages and patriots in council : of calm, collected will, of high 
and virtuous resolves, of manly dignity, which elevated them 
above all emotions of fear of temporal ill, and impelled them 
not only to declare the natural and imprescriptible rights of 
man, but to assert and vindicate them before the world. They 
were heroes and martyrs upon the battle-field of dauntless 
souls, of firm and unyielding hearts, w^ho were nerved by con- 
science and principle to go forth to the unequal contest, and 
pour out the crimson tide, or yield even life itself a cheerful 
sacrifice upon the altar of liberty. Eminently wise, and brave, 
and virtuous, how honorable the remembrances we should 
bestow upon them ! how lasting the memorial we should raise 
to them within our hearts ! The contest for our independence 
was not the waging of battle between contending equals ; it 
was the struggle of the weak against the mighty. To under- 
take it, amid the doubts and uncertainty which hung over the 
future, required the exercise of moral and mental powers of 
the most exalted nature. It involved the dissolution of the 
dearest and strongest ties that e\^er bound a colony to the pa- 
rent land in fiUal love and obedience, and not only the disown- 
ing of all future allegiance, but a bold defiance of all power that 
would oppose a separate station being taken among the nations 
of the earth. Yet this was calmly, boldly done — done as 



17 

true men who suffer and endure with fortitude should ever 
do — done with that mighty will and unconquerable spirit 
which never yields, which formed a distinguishing characteristic 
of the days of the Revolution. 

To persevere in that contest, and carry it on during a suc- 
cession of years, amid defeat and discouragement, oppressed 
by poverty and that more dangerous ill, intestine faction, 
without the physical resources requisite to success, bleeding 
and naked, and ofttimes destitute of human comforts^ with 
hardly a ray of hope for a successful termination of their 
labors and perils, required a devotion and self-sacrifice, and an 
inspiring sentiment of patriotism which the world had never 
witnessed. But all these ennobhng quaUties were s-ignally 
manifested. We see them, men of every rank and fortune, 
the young and old, forsaking all social and personal happiness 
to enroll themselves in the ranks of war, consecrating their 
blood, offering their fortunes, dedicating their energies, ex- 
hausting genius and invention, hoping against hope, but ever 
animated by the subhme consciousness that truth, and justice, 
and right, though crushed to earth, were attributes of God, 
and would, eternal, rise. They conquered : our rights were 
acknowledged, our liberties estabhshed ; and we enjoy in tran- 
quillity the results of that great moral triumph which is so 
blessed to us, and, through its pervading influence, to the world. 

While we mourn that the waves of time have borne their 
mortality from earth, we know that their fame will ever burn 
with immaculate and imperishable honor. We hear some 
voice firom the land of the departed calling unto us, " My sons, 
my sons, forget not your fathers," and we come forth this day 
to consider their vu'tues and venerate their characters, that the 
land may never want for good and wise men. Not only to 
them do we give our tributes of respect and unfailing remem- 
brance, but unto those also who have guided the tottering 



18 

steps of our republic in its early days, and elevated it to its 
present dignity and greatness. They, too, have nobly fought 
the mighty battles for principle and right, upon sea and land, 
and won the glorious victories of truth, or in the Senate halls 
or chairs of state have contributed to our national honor and 
aggrandizement. 

The good, tliey drop around us, one by one, 
Like stars when morning breaks : 

and but yesterday, through all the charmed air, was borne the 
knell of the departed sage and statesman, who was ever the 
defender of the Constitution, and the unwavering champion of 
principle ; whose voice of thrilling eloquence was ever raised in 
behalf of oppressed humanity, and whose fame, circumscribed 
by no national limits, pervades every land, to the glory and 
renown of our republic. Ye are mourners for the mighty 
fallen ; ye mingle your tears with those of millions, as ye join 
in the funeral obsequies not yet performed ; ye lament for the 
light that is no more, for the spirit fled — gone, like a sun- 
beam, to revisit its native skies ! * 

To all of these — to all the heroes, and patriots, and sages, 
who sleep in the A^alley and shadow of death — let us apply 
the lofty eulogium pronounced by Pericles over the Athenians 
slain in their country's cause : " They have every one received 
a praise that will never decay, a sepulchre that will always 
be most illustrious — not that in which their bones lie moulder- 
ing, but that in which their fame is preserved, to be on every 
occasion when honor is the employ of either word or act, 
eternally remembered. This whole earth is the sepulchre of 
illustrious men : nor is it the inscription on the columns in 
their native soil alone that show their merit, but the memorial 

* Henry Clay deceased at Washington, June 29, 1852, and his remains passed 
through Buffelo July 6th, on the way to his former residence, at Ashland, Kr. 



19 

of them, better than all inscriptions, in every foreign nation, 
reposited more durably in universal remembrance than on 
their own tomb." * 

Such, Americans, are the characters, and virtues, and events 
which the history of our own government presents for our 
contemplation ; our spirits are animated and our hearts re- 
joiced by the ennobling influences of our national recoUec- 
tions. Why need we bind the pilgrim sandals on our feet, and 
wander to long-deserted shrines, or sigh o'er storied ruins of 
the past, to inflame our breasts with lofty sentiments of honor, 
or patriotism, or love of country ? What charms are found 
amid the vales of Greece, or by the Iloman hills, that we 
must ever thither turn with unaverted gaze, to seek for great 
incentives in the dust of by-gone centuries ? We grant that 
the history of early repubhcs abounds with great and distin- 
guished examples, and glorious events, all honorable to human- 
ity ; and our souls kindle with admiration when we read of 
Spartan virtues and heroism at the pass of Thermopylae, or 
thrill with sympathy in the triumph at Marathon, and w^e 
would that sacli, and such hke recollections of any and every 
age, might exert unceasing influence upon men, and be ap- 
pealed to, to arouse the noblest and holiest emotions of our 
nature , iliey adorn the annals of the centuries in which they 
were exhibited, and form the peculiar characteristics of the 
nations of antiquity; but in the great theatre of life, they 
were but the opening scenes of that drama of human existence 
which, since creation's dawn has been portraying the capacities 
of man for perfection, and that higher and more supreme de- 
velopment of heart, and mind, and soul, in all social, and civil, 
and rehgious virtue, that crowns our later days with glory. 
For all of these, in the most unfolded maturity earth ever 



ThucT dicks, book '2d. 



20 

witnessed, we must look to our own times, and to our own 
land; and, in the moment of exultation and of chastened 
gratitude, we may well exclaim, in the poet's prophetic 
language, 

"The first four acts already pasr.ed, 
A fifth shall close the drama with the day, — 
Time's noblest offspring is the last," 

Yes, the spirit and sentiment of rational hberty is present 
with exalted purity in this final abode of freedom, our altars 
are yet crimsoned with the blood of our own heroes and mar- 
tyrs, we wreathe fi'esh chaplets to adorn our venerated shrines, 
and while we forget not the men of old, while the memory 
endures of the blood of Bunker Hill, the sufferings of Valley 
Foro-e, the triumph of Yorktown, we need not ask for watch- 
words of more thrilling spell to kindle emotions of the most 
sublime patriotism and devotion in the hearts of Americans. 
These are the recollections that must animate, and fortify, and 
ennoble the spnit of our citizens ; they are the foundation of 
national character, as they are legitimate sources of exultation 
and confidence within ourselves, and confer upon us that dig- 
nity which commands respect and admiration among cotempo- 
rary powers. May they be undying fountains of our joy ; may 
their influence be welcomed with hofier veneration upon each 
returning anniversary of fi'eedom ; may they stand m the 
freshness and glory of the present, amid the changes of all 
time! 

As the prosperity and duration of the republic depends more 
upon our citizens than upon written constitutions or positive 
law, we might speak of that political education or proper un- 
derstanding of our institutions and national policy which will 
enable all men to take such a part in public affairs and in the 
councils of state, as will be of benefit to themselves and to the 



21 

government. By this, is not meant the instruction of yonth in 
pohtics, as it is pjenerally termed, in this wrangle of partisans 
which fills the air with tumult, for there is very little of all 
this that is substantial or necessary to be imderstood to inform 
us of our position as members of society, as men and citizens ; 
but we allude now to the implanting in the minds of youth a 
just appreciation of the manifold blessings of civil independ- 
ence as demonstrated in our age and country, a desire for 
peace and order, and a love for liberty, which will make them 
men — men who are sensible of their natural and inalienable 
rights and privileges, and wdio will glory in preserving them. 
In our country, it is not only the privilege, but it is the duty 
of every man, to be conversant with the affairs of state. To 
be uninformed when issues are pending which involve import- 
ant interests in their determination ; to shrink from partici- 
pating in the councils of the nation ; to stand aloof when 
great questions of public policy are agitated, would seem to 
indicate a cowardice of soul, or moral weakness, or mental 
incapacity. Therefore, we speak of political education as a 
part of the education and discipline of youth, which will instill 
high resolves, and give birth to noble thoughts, from which, in 
<3ays of manhood, will arise the feehngs of love and reverence 
for our institutions, and a desire for their perpetuation. Let 
them contemplate with attention the nature of our system of 
formal government, and estimate the blessings we enjoy; and 
as they mature in years, inform them of the duties as well 
as the rights of citizens — of their civil obligations as mem- 
bers of the great social family, the necessity of obeying laws 
.•and supporting constituted authorities, — and then, in all times 
'of peril, or doubt, or of prosperity, they will honor the com- 
monwealth by action, and support her integrity. 

Think not, in moments of pride and security, that Amer- 
ican repubhcanism has no need of conservative men and 

9* 



22 

conservative influences to insure its duration. There exists, 
from the very spirit of our institutions — from that unbounded 
license of thought, and speech, and action, which we dehght 
not only in tolerating, but protecting — a turbulence among 
our citizens which naturally results from democracy, and 
which, if we are unguarded and allow it uncontrolled power, 
will assuredly resolve our existence into dreadful anarchy. 
There are, and always have been, in the world's history, men 
who are libertines in politics, as well as in religion and moral- 
ity — men, whose natures are impatient of the legal and natural 
restraints of society, and who are ever ready to seize upon a 
pretext to resist, or to take up the sword to overthrow, the 
constituted authorities of government. It is from these pre- 
tenders to patriotism who, under the guise of love of countrj^, 
would seek to fill the places of authority; these libertines, 
who would even thunder treason at the head of armed bands, 
could they elevate themselves to power; these demagogues 
who glory in misleading the populace, and whose existence 
depends upon the success of their schemes of deception ; it 
is from these, vastly more than from the open enemies of our 
institutions, that we are to fear for the safety of the republic. 
Far from being conservators of the public peace and happiness, 
they delight in attacking whatever is venerable, and cherished 
among good men. The disorganization of the elements of 
society, the overthrow of all that the experience and wisdom 
of man has established as necessary and proper for the main- 
tenance of civil order, is attempted by them, under the pre- 
tence of reformation. Keformation, indeed, which, in their 
hands, would be nothing but wild and senseless republicanism, 
which would teem with all the misery and evil that sociahsts, 
agrarians, and infidels could inflict upon the world. Let us 
not raise up oar voices against innovation and improvement, if 
satisfied that blessings and benefits can result therefi'om ; and 



far be it from any friend of man to condemn unheard, the 
wildest scheme that fanaticism ever urged under the plea of 
reformation, for there exists in the conceptions of speculativ^e 
reformers many a crude idea or misdirected thought which 
may be turned to the advantage of the world, when sober 
reason and the pruning-knife of truth have stripped them of 
their deformities. But it is against the dangers that result 
from unauthorized and impetuous innovation upon the quiet 
of existing things, from this unceasing tampering with our 
system of social order, from this love of change that endangers 
all stability, that the watch-cry of our citizens should ring out 
clear and wide through all the land. Look to it, then, citi- 
zens, and behold how important a thing it is to guard by 
every influence, against the practices of designing men ; how 
sternly you must frown upon the cunning schemes of reforma- 
tion, the insinuating evils that abound in all that is false and 
unnatural, and which, though ghttering with promise as they 
appear to the beholder, are, like the mirage of the desert, a 
mockery and a delusion. 

And of that Union to which we owe our power, and charac- 
ter, and dignity, as a distinct people, which was formed by the 
wisdom, and cemented by the blood of our fathers, and with- 
out the existence and continuance of which, ui all its fulness 
and majesty, we can have no hopes for American republican- 
ism, of that Union which we delight to love and reverence, 
let us take thought as we rebul^e all innovation, all change, all 
the aspirings of modern conceit and modern degeneracy. At 
the termination of the Revolution, the sovereign states were 
free to exist distinct and disunited; but good and wise 
men knew that there was no future for liberty, no hope for the 
preservation of the principles which had been contended for, 
save in the formation of that alliance and federation which now 
exists. They reconciled conflicting interests and discordant 



24 

views and feelings, each yielding of its own individuality to cre- 
ate one great, harmonious whole, and our federal government was 
established, and our republic, then ushered into the great fam- 
ily of nations, began to move onward, " rejoicingly, as a giant, 
to run its course." We behold, this day, the results, the con- 
sequences of that Union ; we live to be thankful for the bless- 
ings that surround us. The same influences that created it, 
are present with us, urging us to perpetuate it. Beyond 
it, we can not, dare not look ; we wish not to gaze upon the 
spectacle of dissevered states — the discordant fragments of 
our glory. We trust that it may be eternal amid the changes of 
earth, " that there may be no decay, no leading into captivity, 
and no complaining in our cities," and though the storms of 
passion and the whirlwinds of faction and secession may break 
around it, yet that it may stand firm upon its base, an ever- 
lasting temple of liberty. 

When the Ark of the covenant of the Lord of Hosts, which 
the children of Israel brought out of Shiloh in the time of 
their trouble, was taken in battle by the Phihstines, and 
carried down into Ashdod and into Ekron, the hand of the 
Almighty was heavy throughout all those cities, and the 
voices of their lamentation went up to Heaven.* 

Even so, what sacrilegious hand shall dare in after time to 
spoil us of the Ark of our Constitution, the Covenant of our 
Liberty, shall feel the vengeance of the ruler of the world. In 
Him was the trust of our forefathers reposed, in the days of 
their struggle with the hosts of the old world, of darkness and 
oppression. They felt, they knew the right was theirs ; that 
the crusade was for principle, and truth, and liberty, in all that 
makes society and government the objects of human regard, 
and their pure and heartfelt prayers and aspirations ascended 
to the Throne above in humble supplication for guidance and 

* 1 Samuel, iv. 



25 

success. The triumph was accortled ; and we are blessed with 
happiness and unmeasured prosperity ; and let us, of the Uv- 
ing world, gratefully ascribe all honor and reverence, not unto 
them, not unto them, but unto that great God who directed 
the past, and bountifully measures out the present, and who, 
we hope will guard the ark of our freedom in the ages yet to 
come. 

Upon this day, so full of consecrated memories ; so wel- 
come in its ennobling influences ; so bright with hope for all 
future time ; we may trust that our duration will be eternal. 
We stand upon the eminence of the present, and look down 
the vale of years, to picture to our minds the things of the 
coming centuries of earth ; but how bright or how dark that 
future will be, we cannot know. Perhaps the changing years 
will sweep away the evidences of our civilization ; overthrow- 
ing the institutions which we now survey w^ith pride — dis- 
organizing society, and wrapping earth in deeper shades of 
ignorance and mental darkness. If it so be, some high pur- 
pose will doubtless be accomplished, which our short-sighted 
vision cannot comprehend ; but as men of the present, let us 
do our duty in our own time, and lay broader and deeper the 
foundations of human perfection and national grandeur. We 
must leave the result to the men who will come after us, and 
live and die when we are mingled with the dust. The seed 
that is now sown with the diligent hand shall bear fruit in 
God's own time ; but whether of good or evil, we cannot say. 
We can only hope for the improvement of man through the 
long succession of ages, and trust in the spirit and integrity of 
our institutions for our preservation, and we build up that hope 
and trust upon the evidence of the present. The philanthropist, 
can only hope for a glorious consummation of his labors in 
the coming days, the moralist can only hope that his pure 



26 

wishes for man's perfection will be realized, the friend of civil 
liberty can only hope that the spirit of freedom will never 
cease to be present among the nations. That the swelling 
buds which we now see upon the tree of Hfe will unfold and 
blossom in that unknown future, must be the hope and prayer 
of all. 

We know the mutabihty of all human institutions, and 
political government is forever changing amid the revohitions 
of earth ; that the glory of the old nations has faded, and their 
monuments crumbled into ruin, although their founders built 
upon what "they deemed, eternal rock." The sacred olive 
branch borne from Cecropia's towers once symbohzed tlieii 
subjugation to all the tributary isles, and the Roman senate and 
people inscribed upon their standards the magic letters which 
proclaimed their own aggrandizement to an alhed world, but 
the Parthenon is mouldering in its desolation, and the Coli- 
seum stands, in gloomy silence, the memorial of departed 
grandeur. We behold the gigantic wrecks of empires and 
constitutions which are strewed in terrible desolation upon the 
great ocean of time, and we are doubtful : we tremble for 
the future of our republic. Yet we do know the sources of 
our political integrity and national strength ; we know that 
the system of American government, diifering from all the , 
past in important characteristics, is self-balanced and self-sus- 
taining ; we know that the foundations of our state are laid in 
the hearts, and homes, and free spirits of a moral and enhght- 
ened people, and cemented by the bonds of love and union. 
The physical powers of surrounding kingdoms — their fleets, 
and armies, and resources ; constitute the instruments of 
oppression, or the unstable glories of the conqueror who 
wheels the iron car of servitude over prostrate nations, and we 
look not to them to give us hope, we trust not to them to 



perpetuate our liberties. Ours, are higher and truer elements 
of duration, that exist within ourselves, in the unwritten char- 
ters and constitutions of our hearts. 

Let us appreciate the first fruits of the hberties we enjoy, 
and cherish this high monument of our forefathers' wisdom 
with the spirit of enthusiasm and earnest solicitude. The 
milder virtues must find then- dwelling-place within our hearts, 
and our souls, unchained, be free to feel the buoyant and 
ennobling influences of freedom. Let us encourage that sense 
of justice and exalted dignity which has elevated us above 
the thrones of earth, and given us the chief place among the 
nations. Let our old men speak of all these things at their 
firesides to the young, and tell them of their duty to them- 
selves and to their country, that they may never fail her in the 
tim ^ of need, but ever reverence the Constitution. Let our 
young men who are soon to be called upon the stage of 
life, hear the voices of their fathers, and gather wisdom and 
instruction. Let our matrons imbue the hearts of their chil- 
dren with the principles of truth and the love of civil and 
religious freedom. Let the ministers of holy things remember 
how important an influence they should exert upon the whole 
society of the nation, and guide the people in the way of life- 
Morality shall then reign, and the train of virtues, the undying 
elements of our existence, be ever present, like the day-spring 
from on high. These are the bulwarks of our strength : the 
Ark of our Liberty is our Constitution and the Bond of Union ! 
Guard it inviolate, that the empires of the world may not des- 
poil us of our great glory, and carry it away captive down to 
the homes of their false gods. Then shall we flourish and 
endure among the nations, and the setting sun when it goes 
down in heaven, will never gild with its parting beams, the 
faUen monuments, the departed glories of the great Repubhc 
of the Western World. 



A 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRF«;<: 

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